I have an older system that has an LGA 775 E6600 CPU cooled by a Zalman cooler - I think it is something like the Zalman 7000 or whatever they were making five or so years ago. Here is the SPCR review of this cooler http://www.silentpcreview.com/article209-page1.html

I find the CPU fan a little noisy, even when using a Fanmate controller, so I want to relace the CPU heatsink. I guess this is not surprising since fans often do get a bit noisier when they are older and I think this system is over 5 years old. I want to avoid removing the mobo if possible since that is a bit of a PITA. Any recos on what heatsink to get? Or is it fairly easy to just replace the fan is this type of cooler? There are some threads here about people who have replaced fans on this type of cooler - would that be the way to go?

Is it possible to replace the fan without even taking the heatsink off of the CPU? Any recommendations on a specific fan that may fit better? If it is the 7000 then it is a 90mm fan, if I actually have the 7700 then it is a 120mm fan. You can buy a Zalman replacement fan for this PS but is that a better option than getting the SPCR recommended fan which is the Nexus RealSilent fan? The Zalman fan is $20 online whereas my local Computer shop has the Nexus RealSilent for $10 - people have used the Nexus fan before but the threads that I ahve found are 8 years old and I am wondering if the Nexus fan has changed through the years?

Are there any threads with advice on this type of modding as I assume that I have to remove the fan frame. Do you have to cut away the frame or can you take out the fan and still have it remain funcional?

The case is an Antec Sonata II so it should have the space for a taller heatsink. While I am at it I may also upgrade the CPU to something like a Q6600 since they are pretty cheap and that may extend the life of the machine a bit. The mobo is an Asus P5B-E if that matters.

Replacing the fan would have to be done as a mod. Chose a fan the right size, cut away the frame and screw/cable tie/glue it down somehow.

Any cooler that is pushpin mounted is a possibility to fit without removing the motherboard. How dextrous your fingers are is a limiting fact however. If you have fat hands you'll be stuck! The trouble is that to use pushpins it means that the cooler will be fairly lightweight, heavier ones tend to use backplates and bolts for mounting. If the heatsink is lighter, it won't be so good thermally without a faster fun, hence the best quiet coolers, either top down or tower, will be bolt through.

Is removing the motherboard really such a trouble? After 5 years it would enable you to have a good cleanup so you could treat it as a useful rebuild to cover other tasks like cable tying and perhaps cutting a cutout in the motherboard tray such that next time you don't have to remove the motherboard.

I actually just moved the mobo and components from an HTPC Silverstone case to the Sonata case so it got a good cleaning at the time and that is when I realized it is such a pain to put in the mobo. Actually it would get a lot easier with a decent magnetized screwdrive!

After taking it out I relaized that I must have the Zalman 7700 as the fan was 120mm.

I ended up changing the fan. I had a Arctic PWM12 fan that fit. The only problem was that the fan base wasn't quite thick enough. I secured the fan with double-sided foam tape. Since the fan base for this fan wasn't as high as original Zalman fan the fan was going to be brushing the HS fins. I was able to solve this but I am wondering how great my solution was. There are two holes verically aligned where the fan mount clip secures to the HS. These holes are about 3mm apart and the clip is supposed to go into the lower holes, the clip has little bumps that fit into the upper holes. Instead I screwed the fan mounting clip into the upper holes. The clip seems securely fastened to the mobo but I am wondering if eventually the fan may start vibrating a bit since it may not be as secure in this config than the original config. But it seems to work now and it is fairly quiet.

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